


Doubled Pawns

by wesawbears



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Alternate Scene, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Underage Drinking, M/M, Sleepovers, the kandreil is not explicit, thought it's strongly suggested
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-17 05:15:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29094852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wesawbears/pseuds/wesawbears
Summary: A redo of the scene after Kevin gets his tattoo redone. He stays up a little longer and the three talk about Neil's alcohol tolerance, sleepovers, lost childhoods, and chess. Written for the AFTG Mixtape event
Relationships: Kevin Day/Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Comments: 5
Kudos: 68
Collections: AFTG Mixtape Exchange 2021





	Doubled Pawns

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DesertLily](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DesertLily/gifts).



> This is based on the song "Blood and Whiskey" by The Mechanisms.

Kevin leaned back against the back of the bed, clearly exhausted by his display of courage and let his head fall back against the wall with a crack. Neil guessed he was too drunk to really feel it, but he took another swig of the whiskey in his hand, so it must not have been too much for him to handle. He only got about half of it down before Andrew snatched it from his hand, with only a halfhearted whine from Kevin and a glare that was too tired to be intimidating. Andrew smirked around the bottle, looking around. “This is exactly what I’d imagine for your last meal, Kevin.”

Neil shot him a half withering look. He didn’t want Andrew’s sharp tongue to make Kevin regret the choice he’d made, but Kevin seemed too high on adrenaline and booze to be in his usual bad humor. He actually laughed, which Neil was sure he’d only seen a handful of times. “That’s...that’s funny. You know, because we’re gonna die.”

“Oh good,” Andrew said in monotone, raising his eyes to the ceiling. “He’s become a comedian in his final hours.”

“We’re not going to die.”

Andrew turned to look at him curiously. “Such certainty from the man who thought he’d be dead within the year. There’s a cautionary tale there. The man who escapes from jail only to fall to his death in a manhole.”

Kevin giggled from the bed while Neil turned to face Andrew fully. “That’s my point. I thought I was going to die. But I didn’t. I made it out-”

“Looking like a dog’s chew toy,” Andrew added dryly.

“And next to all of that, Riko is nothing. He’s a plaything. And we’re going to beat him like he’s nothing.”

“Optimism makes you even more annoying than desperation.”

Neil rolled his eyes and looked at Kevin, who shrugged.

“We’re gonna die,” he said, “But I’m not gonna,” a hiccup, “have that stupid 2 on my face when I do it. And I’m gonna see his stupid face when he does it.”

Neil smiled impishly at Andrew, who didn’t react except to turn Neil’s cheek away so he wasn’t looking at me.

“Are you five?”

“Have to make up for a lost childhood sometime.”

Neil hummed and reached for the bottle to snatch it away from Andrew, a self-satisfied smirk on his face

Kevin tilted his head, looking almost like an owl with way the drunkenness exaggerated his movements. “You’re drinking now?”

Neil shrugged. “It’s only you two. And it’s just a little. Just to take the edge off.”

Andrew gave him an unreadable look, while Kevin pouted. “I said I would watch you if you wanted to drink...but now I’m too drunk.”

“I’m not going to get drunk on a couple sips of whiskey,.” Neil noted. “And besides, I’m not planning on getting drunk. We do have practice in the morning.”

“Probably because you don’t like alcohol,” Andrew noted, taking the bottle back.

“It’s fine,” Neil shrugged. “I just don’t get the appeal of being drunk.”

“I find it very appealing,” Kevin added, perking up.

“We know.”

Kevin dropped his smile and scoffed, making hands for Andrew to give him the whiskey, which were summarily ignored.

Andrew and Neil passed the bottle between themselves, for Neil less because he actually liked the whiskey and more to piss Kevin off, who was fully pouting at this point.

Andrew watched him take a sip and said, “You keep sucking your teeth after every sip. You’re acting like a 15 year old sneaking his parent’s liquor for the first time.”

“The liquor we had was for cleaning injuries. Not for drinking.”

“That’s so sad,” Kevin said, looking earnestly despondent.

Neil glared at him. “And your childhood was spent in a violent cult, so I really don’t think you have any room to judge mine.”

“Your bickering is boring. Give me back my whiskey.”

“I bought it!” Kevin cried.

“Shut up,” Neil and Andrew said in unison.

Kevin was many things, but a quiet drunk was not one of them, so after a few moments of silence, he continued on. “Speaking of childhoods, I think this is the closest thing I’ve had to a sleepover.”

“We live in dorms,” Andrew said, “Every night is a sleepover.”

“You know what I mean.”

“I really don’t.”

“Sleepovers like...in the movies! With the...games. And stuff.”

“I didn’t know you were a nostalgic drunk,” Neil stated.

“You can’t be nostalgic for something you never had. The closest thing I had to a sleepover was when Jean would come in our room-”

Andrew cut him off by putting a hand over his mouth. “Do not finish that depressing sentence.”

Kevin managed to keep talking even with his hand blocking him, so Andrew eventually relented. “You’re as bad as Neil when you’re drunk.”

Undeterred, Kevin continued. “We should play spin the bottle.”

“We should not,” Andrew shot back.

“Or...truth or dare!”

“I dare you to shut the fuck up.”

“I don’t like that dare.”

“That isn’t how truth or dare works.”

“LIke you would know,” Neil said back.

“Seen and not heard.”

“We’re not playing any games.”

Kevin mumbled under his breath. “Tyrant.”

Neil considered. He had seen enough of the upperclassmen playing various drinking games and watching teen movies that Neil couldn’t relate to that while he knew he could go to them if he really wanted those experiences, he was curious to see what kinds of things Kevin or Andrew would feel safe to say when it was just them. Especially now that, of all nights, they had nothing to lose.Neil felt safe, which was something he hadn’t felt in a very long time. 

“So Kevin’s the queen. Riko’s the king. What does that make us?” He didn’t say what he was really asking, which was to ask Kevin where they fit in this equation.It was hard enough wondering where he stood with Andrew- what he was to him. But almost dying at the hands of his father and Lola had brought things into perspective. Even if he couldn’t say it, Andrew had shown by his actions that Neil was important to him. That even without a deal in the way, he was worth protecting.

But Andrew had also betrayed his deal with Kevin for Neil. Kevin clearly didn’t hold it against Andrew- he probably felt in a small way that he had deserved Andrew’s treatment. But this was the closest the three of them had really been since. The uneasiness between them had bothered Neil for reasons he couldn’t name. He didn’t feel the same way about Kevin as he did about Andrew, but he knew the three of them needed each other. He needed to know that Kevin and Andrew could heal from this, that he wasn’t getting in the way.

Kevin, obviously, could not interpret that from Neil’s question, especially not as full of whiskey as he was. “Like in chess.”

“Neil’s the pawn,” Andrew said quickly.

Kevin’s expression soured. “No he’s not. Pawns are expendable.”

“Not always. Occasionally they have their uses.”

“No. Neil’s the knight.”

Neil furrowed his brow. Knights were protectors. They were out in front, jumping over those they cared for. All Neil had done was run and hide.

Kevin continued, “Knights are the unpredictable pieces. And most players don’t know what to do with them. So, most teams wouldn’t have known what to do with you. Your stats were terrible. You were rusty. Unpredictable. A risk.”

“But you did.”

“But I did. Because I”m fucking awesome.”

Neil scoffed and leaned back. “And Andrew?”

“Andrew’s the rook. Does the heavy work. Path of least resistance. And they’re useful in the endgame. Just like the goalie. Last line of defense.”

Neil recalled how he had said the exact same thing of Andrew earlier. That there was no other position Andrew could play, court ordered position or not. 

Andrew didn’t argue about his position but said, “Chess is a game of defense.”

“It can be,” Kevin mused, “but not always. It’s like Exy. Riko always focused on offense and just trusted that defense would do their job. But he viewed defense as predictable. Static. Replicate the exact same movements enough times, and hold your ground and you’ll be fine. But when faced with unpredictability, it crumbles.”

“You know a lot about chess. I didn’t know you were allowed to play in the Nest.”

“You can learn a lot about strategy from chess.”

Andrew looked at them both dryly. “And here I thought you junkies were going to make it through an entire conversation without talking about Exy.”

Neil smirked. “That would be unpredictable, wouldn’t it?”

“You are not that interesting.”

“You are a bad liar.”

“You are forgetting I’m here,” Kevin whined.

“Not forgetting. Just uninterested.”

“You won’t even remember in the morning.”

“I’ll remember,” Kevin muttered resolutely before laying down.

Neil smiled and turned back to Andrew. “Somehow I don’t think he’s going to remember.”

“I think he remembers more drunk than he does sober.”

Neil glanced back at Kevin one more time. He didn’t know what tomorrow would hold, but for now, he knew they were okay.


End file.
